Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I have decided to write this after watching last weekend's Red Dynasty Rookie Challenge. It is not too difficult letting your team mates know which bunker you will be running to after the referee's come down but the uphill task is to let them know what you will be doing behind the bunker.

I have to assume that your team do have a breakout plan... you know where you are running to... you know how you are going to do that (mad dash, sliding, gun and run, etc) but what are you going to do when you reach there safely still remains a mystery. As the saying goes: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail" and it is no different in paintball. You'll need to be able to think about your next step having survive the initial spray of paintballs. Let's break it down to steps:

1) Do you know where are your opponents?

This is extremely important. It is a MUST for all players to know where your opponents are running to after the break out, this is especially important for back players as you will need to relay this information to your teammates. You might not be sure but as long as you can roughly make out who goes where... so that you'll know where to post up, which lanes to shoot, etc.

2) Do you look cross or do you look down the tape?

Ask yourself, what is your assigned role for the game? Have you been tasked to look cross field or have you been told to lock down the tape side? Either way, just do what you are told and DO IT PROPERLY. Discipline is the keyword here... you might have nothing to shoot at or you might have already spent 2 pods shooting into blank spaces but be patience... do what you are told. Of course, field awareness is important too... if you are outnumbered, you might not want to just look tape side.

3) Listen! Listen! Listen!

Yes, just listen. Listen out for instructions, listen out for referee's calling players out, listen to your teammates, listen to your back players, listen to your opponents. The signal is out there... just keep your ears open. Be calm... and listen. Don't panic...

4) You are worthless.

If you are not shooting, you are not helping. If you are not communicating, you are not helping. Make your worth count when you are in the field. You can either shoot and communicate or you can do neither. Surely if you are not shooting, you cannot win games. So you need to shoot in order to win. If you are under fire, you need to communicate. Take time off - You can a) reload b) communicate with your cross field c) check the number of live players in your field. DO SOMETHING!

5) Plan your route well.

When you walk the field. It is often easy to know where you will be running to upon breakout... but what happens after that? Plan your route well... identify a secondary bunker. Plan to reach your secondary bunker during the course of the game.

6) Techniques.

You can have the most brilliant plan in the world but if you can't put that into execution, your plan is wasted. It is important for one to have good fundamental paintball techniques to win games. No amount of training and drills is enough for a competitive player to shine in the field. You need to train, train and train to improve and get better in every game.

7) Don't hesitate if you need to...

There is no time to lose. If you have to shoot, you have to shoot. If you have to move, don't think twice, just move. Don't fall into the trap of "If only..."